GEMMELL M A
Bull World Health Organ. 1959;20(1):87-99.
In the first part of this discussion of the significance of the fox in the epidemiology of hydatid disease in man, the author reviews the literature on vulpine echinococciasis. He points out that the evidence available from field surveys and laboratory observations suggests that the fox is not a definitive host of Echinococcus granulosus-the parasite responsible for the most common form of hydatid disease in man-but is a host of E. multilocularis, which is found in parts of Europe and Asia, in the islands of the Bering Sea and in Alaska, and is known to be the causal agent of alveolar hydatid disease.In the second part, the author presents the results of experimental infestation of the European red fox (Vulpes vulpes) with the Australian strain of E. granulosus. These results indicate that a few tapeworms became established in some of the foxes, but were retarded in growth (as compared with their growth in the dogs used as controls) and failed to reach sexual maturity (production of ova) even 112 days after infestation. The author therefore concludes that the fox plays no role in the spread of hydatid disease caused by E. granulosus in Australia.Finally, the author discusses the etiology of two autochthonous cases of alleged alveolar hydatid disease in man in Australasia, putting forward two alternative hypotheses to explain their occurrence.
在本次关于狐狸在人类包虫病流行病学中意义的讨论的第一部分，作者回顾了有关狐源棘球蚴病的文献。他指出，实地调查和实验室观察所获得的证据表明，狐狸并非细粒棘球绦虫（导致人类最常见包虫病形式的寄生虫）的终末宿主，而是多房棘球绦虫的宿主，多房棘球绦虫见于欧洲和亚洲部分地区、白令海诸岛及阿拉斯加，已知是肺泡型包虫病的病原体。在第二部分，作者介绍了用澳大利亚株细粒棘球绦虫对欧洲赤狐（赤狐）进行实验感染的结果。这些结果表明，一些狐狸体内有少数绦虫寄生，但生长受到抑制（与用作对照的狗体内的绦虫生长情况相比），甚至在感染112天后仍未达到性成熟（产出虫卵）。因此，作者得出结论，在澳大利亚，狐狸在由细粒棘球绦虫引起的包虫病传播中不起作用。最后，作者讨论了在澳大拉西亚地区人类两例疑似肺泡型包虫病本地病例的病因，提出了两种可供选择的假说来解释其发生情况。
